


Harmless Fun

by laurus_nobilis



Category: Brave Police J-Decker
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-18
Updated: 2014-06-18
Packaged: 2018-02-05 06:02:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1808026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurus_nobilis/pseuds/laurus_nobilis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are a few things that Duke would prefer to keep private. Of course, he has no such luck.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Harmless Fun

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Cotton Candy Bingo with the prompt "Mail".

It felt a little silly, at times. Duke was quite aware that this wasn’t truly necessary. There were many other forms of communication, most of them both quicker and more efficient than old-fashioned mail. But he enjoyed it, anyway; enough to make up for the apparent disadvantages _and_ for the somewhat embarrassing feeling he got when he thought about it too hard.

He was getting better at not overthinking, however. And Regina indulged him. She replied to every single one of his letters, even if there weren’t many news on her end. Even if they had recently talked over the phone or a video conference. It was a kind gesture from her. Duke knew better than anyone that she wasn’t a very expressive person by nature, and the fact that she put so much effort in this - that she did it for his sake - made him appreciate it all the more. He sometimes wondered if he had ever managed to convey to her just how important this was for him, how his AI sparked whenever he received a letter from her. Probably not. He wasn’t very good at showing his emotions himself, yet.

He was grateful to Commissioner Saejima, too. His part in all of this was just as important. He always gave Duke his letters when he was alone, and hadn’t ever mentioned it to anyone else. It wasn’t a _secret_ , exactly. But both of them had a reasonable idea of what to expect if any of his more teasing-inclined friends found out about it, and Duke was glad that he didn’t need to deal with that.

Or at least he hadn’t, until the time Power Joe and Drill Boy had a slow day and returned early from their patrol.

Duke couldn’t believe his luck. He always came to the Decker Room before his shift started _precisely_ to get that small window of time alone. It was all perfectly planned. Deckerd wasn’t one to avoid his responsibilities, but he wasn’t needlessly strict when it wasn’t hurting anybody, either; so, as long as there was someone to take over already, he wasn’t about to complain about getting to spend a few extra minutes with Yuuta instead of at work. Then Duke had the place all to himself for a little while, and he got to read Regina’s latest letter and then safely put it away.

Except that today, he hadn’t even had time to open the envelope when the others arrived. They were as loud as always, play-wrestling with each other in between ‘hello’s and ‘you’re early’s, but then they fell silent all of a sudden. And Power Joe just _grinned_.

“What’s that? Is it a loooove letter?”

“Duke has a secret admirer!” Drill Boy announced to no one in particular, running across the room. “Let us see! Let us see!”

“What? _No_!”

“C’mon, don’t be so boring. We want to know!” Power Joe had now approached too, and seized his brief moment of confusion to take the letter from him. To his credit, he didn’t try to open it, and just waved the closed envelope around. “Besides, if it’s really a love letter then you’re going to need a _ton_ of help.”

Duke’s first impulse was to snatch the letter back from him, but it was small and fragile and he didn’t dare risk it. His fists clenched with tension as he stood up.

“Give that back.”

But they didn’t listen. Drill Boy had stopped bouncing everywhere at last and shamelessly sat on Duke’s desk, kicking his legs in the air.

“So? Who’s it from?”

“I don’t know, it’s in Eng- oh.” Power Joe’s face fell and he returned the letter to Duke out of his own volition, still closed and unharmed. “Sorry.”

Duke took it back - _carefully_ \- and looked away, without answering. Right now he didn’t trust himself not to say something he’d later regret. He still tried, so hard, to be more open and not so quick to judge. And then things like this happened.

“I think we really made him angry this time,” Drill Boy whispered, tugging Power Joe’s arm.

“Hey. You know we were just kidding, right?”

“Of course,” Duke replied, and he couldn’t keep the cold out of his voice. “All harmless fun with no consequences. You don’t need to worry.”

“Consequences,” Power Joe repeated, and now he looked... not quite angry himself, perhaps, but annoyed. “Really. Really? You can be so stupid sometimes.”

“How dare you--”

But he didn’t get the chance to finish. Power Joe leaned forwards on Duke’s desk, and Drill Boy not so discreetly inched away, as if he was expecting a fight.

“Do you really think that’s why we’re apologizing? So you won’t tell on us? Some things are _important_ , you-- you huge dork,” he huffed. “We wouldn’t tease Deckerd about Boss, or Shadowmaru about the girls.”

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. Then Duke’s posture relaxed at last, and he bowed his head.

“... I see,” he said simply. Now he did feel somewhat stupid, truth be told. He almost expected the others to rub it in - he would have deserved it, really. But that wasn’t what happened at all.

“Yeah, well,” muttered Power Joe, grabbing one of Drill Boy’s arms to drag him out of the room, “it’s still early for us. We’re gonna get some fuel.”

“Eh? But we just--”

“ _Shut up._ “

For a few seconds, Duke just stared after them, trying to process what had just happened. It seemed that he still was quick to judge, after all. They were long gone by the time he realized he should have apologized. That would have to wait until they were back and he was less confused. Right now, however, they had made sure that he still got some time alone. The best way to show his appreciation would be to make good use of it.

He sat down again and finally opened the letter with great care. There wasn’t anything very noteworthy about it, but reading it still made him smile. Duke could only hope his reply to it had the same effect.

There was a good chance that it might work this time, he thought. He was learning to be a better person, after all. And he’d like to think it worked.


End file.
